Some traditional sausage makers might cringe when I say this but...in certain cases...liquid smoke makes a lot of sense to me.

liquid smoke is made by burning wood and extracting the flavor from the smoke. It's not some weird chemical concoction from a test tube...you could even make your own.

Many kinds of sausages don't need to be smoked, but do taste better with a smoky flavor. If you didn't have a smoker or didn't want to go through the extra hassle of smoking, you used to be out of luck. Now, liquid smoke is a good solution.